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It has been an incredibly busy few weeks here at Modern Fuel! I recently took the family to Washington, D.C. for an amazing two-week “break" (with six kids, I'm not sure I can call it a break!). While it was great to get to see some amazing things with the family, anyone who runs a small business knows that the ideas never truly stop flowing. It is always a balancing act between wanting to spend every second creating and ensuring there is time to take in the journey, but it keeps our focus sharp on making the absolute best products possible.
Now that I am back in the shop, I have some major inventory updates, shipping milestones, and a sneak peek at what I am working on next.
Great news for everyone waiting on a pocket carry upgrade: I am currently running aBAP clipped sliders in titanium on the lathe. You can expect to see these clipped bolt action pens back in stock this week!
Our main bottleneck has actually been our custom cork tray inserts. I have one carton in stock right now to cover the initial release, and our full restock of inserts will arrive in about three to four weeks.
The side click pens from our Kickstarter campaign have officially shipped out! Getting these out the door is a huge relief, and I was incredibly grateful for your patience.
Finishing the crazy bronze side click proved to be a much bigger technical challenge than anticipated, and while I was thrilled with the final premium weight and finish, it is a material I probably won’t tackle again anytime soon.
Missing your rewards? If you haven’t received your side click pen yet, it is likely because your backer survey is incomplete. This often happens with Apple Private Relay email addresses. Please reach out to our team at support@modernfuel.com so I can get your rewards shipped.
If you are eyeing our classic click pens, please note that they will be out of stock for a while. I am currently designing a completely new, improved internal mechanism. I've almost completed the first prototypes, and I will share more updates as it progresses. However, we do have plenty of the existing click pen mechanisms in stock for any future warranty needs.
Next up on the lathe is our high-precision fountain pen production, which is slated to begin in about two to three weeks.
I was also prototyping an entirely new product on the mill. The custom machining fixtures and first test pieces were just sent out for anodizing. If the quality looks right, I am aiming for a launch in a couple of months. Keep an eye on our Instagram stories for occasional behind-the-scenes footage!
Before leaving for D.C., I completed a very small batch of custom Energel step nose cones. I announced the drop on Instagram, Discord, and the machined pens subreddit, and they went fast.
These specific step nose cones are designed explicitly for Energel refills and are not compatible with the regular aBAP Pilot G2 refills. I plan to do another small drop in the next week or two, so let us know if you want to grab one.
Innovation also comes with its share of frustration. I recently attempted to machine some step nose cones using an incredibly expensive, never-before-released material for us: Mokume-gane. Unfortunately, the material kept delaminating during the machining process, resulting in hundreds of dollars of wasted stock. It is a tough setback, but solving these material challenges is part of the craft and honestly I'd rather it do it now than after I shipped it (which, if it makes it through machining it's probably not subsequently delaminating under any kinds of normal conditions).
On a personal note, it was fantastic watching the Spurs fight their way to the finals over the last couple of weeks.
As always, thank you so much for supporting American manufacturing and our independent machine shop. It is an honor to make writing instruments that people love using every day.
- Matt
Owner